Officials with an oversight board for Maryland’s morticians and funeral services reported to lawmakers Tuesday that a significant backlog of inspections has been cleared, after unsanitary conditions at a Charles County crematorium mired the board in controversy a year ago.
Erika Malone, executive director of the Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors, reported that by November 2025, the board was able to clear a backlog of over 300 facility inspections that are supposed to take place every two years but didn’t occur on time.
Malone also reported several other administrative changes to help improve the board’s complaint process and licensing delays that were brought to light last year.
While lawmakers with the House’s Health Occupations subcommittee told Malone the board was “heading in the right direction,” she insisted that more action needs to occur.
She said she’s implemented what changes she can as executive director and is asking for legislative action to address some regulations and challenges that are delaying further improvements.
“I wanted to focus on the improvements and everything that we’ve accomplished in a short amount of time with limited staffing, limited resources,” she said. “But if we had the resources, then we can accomplish certain statutory state changes that are necessary for our board.”
The update comes almost a year after the board came under scrutiny for findings at a Charles County-based crematorium. Several board members resigned last year following the revocation of licensing for Heaven Bound Cremation Services.
In 2024, a state inspector found “human bodies in cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other with no support between the boxes; human bodies in ripped body bags with arms and legs hanging out of the body bags; human remains that were not being stored at temperatures below 40F; and blood on the refrigeration unit and bodily fluids on the floor.”
Malone admitted that the conditions at Heaven Bound occurred “unfortunately, under my authority.”
“These issues posed an immediate risk to public health and compromised the dignity of the deceased,” Malone told the subcommittee Tuesday. “At the time of the inspection, I want to make known that the board only had one investigator that was responsible for overseeing approximately 300 funeral establishments statewide.”
In wake of the problems reported at Heaven Bound, Gov. Wes Moore (D) ordered a “top to bottom review” of the board, naming Charles Scheeler, senior counsel at DLA Piper and a former federal prosecutor, to lead the review.
Malone said that the board has taken up some of Scheeler’s recommendations.
“Since that time, we have implemented significant administrative improvements,” Malone said, “including transitioning inspections and licensing to fully online systems, where it’s easier for people to do an inspection, to request an inspection, for us to do our complaints and whatnot.”
The board also increased communication with county health departments to notify the local agencies if a complaint may have public health concerns. It is conducting more in-person meetings and its Complaints Committee now meets every two weeks, as opposed to monthly.
The board is also contracting a part-time investigator to help keep up with annual facility inspections.
But some changes must go through the legislature. Malone said the board is still facing “critical challenges” that would need to be addressed by legislation.
One of the issues the board faces is inconsistent funding due to the fee scheduling currently in statute. The independent board is funded solely with fees on the industry.
“It has odds and even years for particular licenses,” Malone said. “And certain licenses are renewed on an even year, which is a majority of our licenses. And then we only have one license, the mortician’s license, that’s renewed every year.
“That is based on our statute, so it’s another thing that needs to be addressed in a bill,” Malone said.
The board’s disciplinary actions are also slowed down if the facility or person appeals the decision, according to Charlotte Hoffman, chair of the board’s Complaint Committee.
She said that in that an aggrieved party can petition for a judicial review of the suspension or revocation of license, which places a stay on the board’s actions.
“Every other board can summarily suspend licenses and then that licensee gets to appeal if the board is found to have acted inappropriately,” Hoffman said. “In our case, that order is immediately suspended. And so, you can have people who are doing rather egregious things who we effectively cannot take action of summarily suspending them because it has no effect.”
Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg (D- Baltimore City), who chairs the subcommittee, reminded members that the deadline for a guaranteed hearing on proposed legislation is Feb. 12. Hoffman agreed, and said the board is working with the Senate Finance Committee to draft legislation.